From the Sirens to Madonna, from castrati to Callas, from opera stage to drag shows to TV commercials, from George Eliot to writers of detective fiction, the diva has been worshipped, feared, maligned, parodied, and appropriated. This text examines how and why, from the 18th century to the present, divas have been talked about with so much passion and written about with such ambiguity and contradiction. It explores the myriad roles the diva plays in masculinist, feminist, and queer imaginations - in opera itself and in other fictions, films, and fantasies - including the divas' and authors' own. Finally, it examines how and why pop singers like Madonna and Annie Lennox, in very explicit ways, flirt with, fling off, and fulfil the fantasy of the woman with a voice.